Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

Chapter 18 Academy Underground Dungeon (3)

The professor who was teaching the class <The History and Information on Monsters> had said the following:

“There are various ways for Holders to make money in modern society.”

The first is capturing monsters themselves. If they capture monsters outside the barrier or occasionally those that appear within the barrier, they can earn money through the reward set by the government and the ‘magic stones’ embedded in the bodies of the monsters.

This is the most common income source for Holders, and it is a natural profit as it is the decisive factor that makes society in need of Holders.

“The second is… taking on commissions from ordinary people. In other words, doing tasks that only Holders can do.”

Tasks that require excessive physical strength or tasks that ordinary people find difficult. When Holders take on such tasks, they can handle them more easily. However, the demand for this is not very high, and only those who are around F-grade Holders or above tend to take on such tasks. Furthermore, unless they hold specialized positions like academy professors, the earnings are not substantial, so they are not preferred.

“The last one is what you were probably thinking of. It can be considered dungeon conquering.”

Dungeons, special spaces where countless monsters hide. As there are various rewards hidden in these places, it often involves rewards that are difficult to achieve through training or general growth. Especially, if you conquer a dungeon for the first time, you can achieve special growth, which is why Holders always seek out ‘undiscovered dungeons’.

“But above all, the highlight of dungeon conquering is the ‘boss room’”.

The boss room, the last and most significant part of dungeon conquering. Boss rooms have different difficulty levels and rewards for each dungeon, and if you’re lucky, they can bring tremendous fortune upon successful conquering.

Yu Eun-seo, the only S-grade Holder among Korea’s assassin-type Holders, is rumored to have grown through a boss room. It was widely spread in the Holder community that she achieved rapid growth and reached S-grade after breaking the boss room of <The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon>, which is considered the highest-grade dungeon.

Exact confirmation of the facts is difficult, but there’s no smoke without fire. That’s how valuable the boss room in a dungeon is.

Dungeons. They are a sweet land where Holders runes thrive, flowing with milk and honey. And among them, there are even more special undiscovered dungeons.

The beginning part of the academy’s underground dungeon. We had been walking for about 10 minutes from the entrance, and still, there was no sign of anything.

“So, Do Jae-hyun, is this your first time in a dungeon?”

“Yeah, I’ve only been a Holder for about two months.”

“Wow, really? You’re quite talented, then?”

The ones mainly engaging in conversation were me and Moon Ga-eun due to boredom. Kang Juyeon was a type who didn’t speak much, so she remained quiet. Sometimes, she would glance at us as if she wanted to join the conversation… but how can we know if she doesn’t say anything?

“It’s embarrassing to hear such words in front of two really talented people.”

“Oh, come on. Both you and Juyeon have been Holders for quite some time. About half a year? Plus, you have genetic advantages. Right, Juyeon?”

She nodded slightly in response to the sudden question. Just by observing her, I could tell how remarkable Moon Ga-eun was. Despite knowing that she would get stiff responses and brief answers, she continued to talk to Kang Juyeon so steadily. That’s probably why they’ve been close friends since they were young.

“And Do Jae-hyun, aren’t you E-grade? I’ve never heard of someone going from F-grade to D-grade in just two months as a Holder.”

“I wasn’t exactly F-grade. I was almost at the end of E-grade.”

Holders’ grades are officially determined by the Association. The ability measurement devices used when entering the academy. The Holder Association uses similar devices to measure the abilities of Holders and assess their level and practicality through duel tests. They also consider achievements in monster hunting and dungeon conquering. Since I’ve never captured a monster or conquered a dungeon by myself, I wasn’t considered a regular D-grade Holder. My strength was just at the D-grade level.

“Wait a minute.”

While chatting, Moon Ga-eun suddenly raised her hand to stop us. Her ash blue hair fluttered slightly at the sudden stop. She quickly sat down and placed her hand on the ground.

It seemed like she was using [Dolphin’s Sonar], which maximizes her senses related to sound and vibrations. As an archer, Moon Ga-eun often took on the role of a ranger during dungeon conquests and provided ranged support from the back during battles. The runes that archers typically use are [Keen Mind], but Moon Ga-eun, as an elite, possessed a special rare rune called [Dolphin’s Sonar], which naturally had better performance than regular archer runes.

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“They’re coming. About 100 meters away.”

With Moon Ga-eun’s words, the dungeon started to vibrate. Lizardmen appeared in the distance. They were lizard-like monsters covered in scales, holding tridents as weapons. They walked on two legs, resembling humans in form, but their faces and bodies were that of lizards. There were four Lizardmen in sight. They were C-grade Lizardmen monsters.

-Kaahhh!!

-Kaak, kaahh-!!

It was ambitious of me, at D-grade level, to face four Lizardmen alone. No matter how fast my growth rate was, it was almost impossible to deal with four C-grade monsters at the same time.

But I had Kang Juyeon and Moon Ga-eun behind me. I just needed to buy some time until they made their move.

“I’ll go first!”

With those words, I dashed straight ahead. I had to take the lead before the Lizardmen reached here.

Before drawing the longsword from my back, I first pulled out four throwing knives from my hip to use my [Dagger] rune. When I fought the B-grade monster Sizzling Salamander, which had high toughness and even had the rare rune [Lizard’s Scales], throwing knives was meaningless. Even if I used a sword, it barely left a scratch. But C-grade Lizardmen were different. They were strong in physical strength and relatively weak in toughness, so I could inflict damage.

I’ve leveled up the [Dagger] to level 4, and it will definitely show its effectiveness.

“Haah…!!”

I threw all four daggers at one of the Lizardmen.

[Quarter Knives] is a trick-type skill where I throw all four knives and enhance the attack on one of them with magic.

Sure enough, the Lizardman hit by my dagger reacted in surprise. It first parried the dagger with its trident. Then it parried the second dagger. However, there’s a limit to simultaneous reactions. Just two knives.

-Kaaahh!!

The remaining two daggers hit the Lizardman’s body.

One in the ankle and one in the neck.

And the [Quarter Knives].

Among the fours daggers, one dagger was imbued with magic.

It was the dagger that lodged into its neck.

“Lucky seven, you bastard.”

Damn, it was a bullseye. Well, it’s not exactly a bullseye, but still.

The Lizardman hit by the dagger filled with magic became incapacitated. Although I’m not sure if it’s completely dead. But this much was enough for an effective surprise attack.

I drew the sword from my back.

I didn’t have time to celebrate the successful ambush.

-Kaaahh!!

-Kaah, kaaah!!

Did they get angry because of the way I ambushed it?

Three Lizardmen charged at me at high speed.

I held on to the sword tightly with both hands.

As I dodge their stabbing tridents I activated [Water Sword Technique].

With it, even if multiple weapons came at you at the same time, if you could identify the central point of the attack, you would be able to break them.

Chaeng- Chaejaeng-

The Lizardmen’s trident and my sword interlocked.

As the weapons became unlocked, they tried to hit me several times but I dodged every attack.

With each dodge, I became surrounded, in between enemies lines.

I was constantly looking for a gap.

“Hap… !!”

I used [Combo] to counter while letting [Wave Sword Technique] piercing technique to create a gap.

Because of the difference in grade, it did not show the level difference of [Quarter Knife], which was poured out with full force in the first attack, but it created large and small scratches as damages.

‘Not good.’

However, even in this battle, there is a limit.

Little by little, I could feel it on my wrists and skin.

It was a matter of my inexperienced use of runes and my abilities.

I had just started learning the swordsmanship of the professors, and the rune level was only 1 or 2 levels.

There is something lacking to cover my low skills.

The trident of the Lizardmen that rushes incessantly without relenting its attacks were not easily tackled. You must have an outstanding aspect of either stats or runes.

However, with D-level abilities, this was the limit.

“Keugh… .”

A pained voice came out reflexively.

The sword, which used to respond gently to attacks, gradually lost strength while the trident of the Lizardmen was starting to get heavy.

-Kaaaaaaa!!

As we were in the midst of the battle, another group of Lizardmen’s sounds were heard in front of us.

Ah, I messed up… Come to think of it, this is a dungeon.

The initial four were just the beginning, and there could be countless Lizardmen in the dungeon.

And the ones in front were the Lizardmen following the first group.

‘I might really die here.’

Three Lizardmen were already overwhelming, but if I had to fight more here, I’d be dead for sure.

I had reached my limit.

And around that time, Moon Ga-eun’s voice came to my rescue.

“Jae-hyun, step back!”

The signal that both supported magic and range shooting were ready.

I quickly moved away from the Lizardmen.

The speed that’s hard to believe for someone who was just fighting a moment ago.

The Lizardmen also seemed surprised.

This is due to the high speed, but [Sprint] played a big part as well.

[Sprint] is a rune that not only increases speed but also enhances instantaneous movements and agility.

Naturally, it also had an impact on escaping from dangerous situations.

Bang!

Ka-ga-kang!

Shiiing-

And as soon as I got out of the range of any AOE.

A barrage of arrows came flying with a tremendous noise.

[Light Meteor] and [Triple Powershot].

Their main area-of-effect skills.

The three Lizardmen I was fighting and the five that came afterward had no time to respond.

They were bombarded by Kang Juyeon and Moon Ga-eun.

-Ka, kaaah…

The battle was over just like that.

“….”

I stared blankly at the scene.

After witnessing such overwhelming attacks.

I felt a strange sense of reverence in my body and mind.

Is this the…

Pack hunting or something…?

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